A new high-sensitivity X-ray diffraction technique for determining local deformations of a crystal surface using “bending interference fringes”

A new high-sensitivity X-ray diffraction technique for studying local surface deformations caused by crystal defects is described. The method is based on analysis of the shape of “bending interference fringes” (BIFs) in the Bragg geometry of X-ray diffraction. The obtained results show that the BIF method allows one to qualitatively assess very weak local deformations of a crystal surface with local bending radii of crystallographic planes from several dozen to several hundred meters.